Thomas Underdowne (c1655)
Missing Generation Due to poor keeping of records during the Civil War and it’s aftermath, the parish records of Ottery St Mary do not record the birth of a child to a Thomas and Johan Underdowne until a Thomas Underdown was born in 1674. This appears to be too late to be a child of Thomas Underdowne (b1635). It is highly likely then that another ‘Thomas and Johan Underdowne’ existed between these two generations. The author of this page has therefore taken the theory that Thomas and Johan Underdown (fmly Turner) did have a child (or children together) – their births however have not been recorded. It is also likely that the children they had would have been born more around the time directly after they married in the 1650s. The Thomas Underdown who married a Johan and had children Thomas (1674), John (1679), Mary (1682) and Sarah (1685) is the right age to be a child of Thomas (b 1635). He could have been born in approximately 1655, making the date of his marriage as circa 1674 – just right to be the father of Thomas born 1674. At this stage however, this is nothing but theory. Children The baptism of the 4 children to this Thomas and Johan is interesting in that is shows the movement of the family from Ottery St Mary to Honiton between 1679 and 1682 – starting the Underdown roots firmly in East Devon. The reasons for this could be numerous – work, family or a particularly bitter cold winter that was experienced by Devon in the year 1676. To get to Honiton from Ottery St Mary, all the family had to do was follow the River Otter. Weaving and Lace Making Honiton is said to have been the first town in Devon in which serges (a durable twilled woollen or worsted fabric) were made, and there was a flourishing woollen industry here in the 17th-18th cents. It was also notable from Elizabethan times for the manufacture of a fine lace. Honiton lace is a very fine English hand-made bobbin lace. Traditionally, lace was always used as a fine decoration on clothing - collars, edgings, cuffs, veils, trimmings, and handkerchiefs. Honiton Lace is made by hand in a miniature weaving process: the loom being made from pins placed through a pattern on a straw pillow. Very fine threads held on bobbins are woven back and forth to build up the pattern. Variations are created by the use of different stitches within the pattern. If Thomas was indeed the son of a weaver, it could have been that he had learnt his father’s trade and opportunities for work in Honiton in the serges and lace industry presented themselves. Honiton was also the staging point for London, so it was established with many coach inns. Death There is a burial of a Thomas Underdown (with no ‘e’) in Honiton on the 18th October 1732, that could potentially be this Thomas, but there is no proof at this stage. No record of Johan’s burial has been located. |- |colspan="3" bgcolor="#FFfce0" style="color: #000000;" |'Children of Thomas and Johan Underdowne'